For years the property of geeks and nerds, now science fiction is suffering the ultimate indignity: Becoming the next big "sexy" thing for British actors. Is this the beginning of the end for the genre?

The Stage, the British weekly newspaper for actors, is reporting that well-respected actors like Derek Jacobi, Jason Isaacs and Alex Jennings will be taking part in the new BBC season of sci-fi radio plays to be broadcast across the corporation's various networks this March. In addition to previously-announced adaptations of Arthur C. Clarke's Rendezvous With Rama and Iain M. Banks' State Of The Art, the season - spread across BBC Radio 3, Radio 4 and digital channel BBC 7 - will include new original works from Kim Newman and Mike Maddox, amongst others... but what explains the sudden popularity of the genre amongst big-name actors like Jacobi? A familar face, according to Jeremy Howe, BBC Radio 4's commissioning editor - Doctor Who: